1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a system for combining electronic mail (email) addresses and/or facsimile telephone numbers into a fax message, so that when received by a server the fax document is processed and transmitted as an email to the email addresses or as a fax to the telephone numbers of the intended fax recipients, or both. This allows the user to send faxes and emails from a conventional fax machine without necessarily having a computer, local area network (LAN) or Internet connection on site.
2. Background Art
Facsimile (fax) devices are popular mechanisms for the transmission of text and graphics. They are relatively easy to use and inexpensive to purchase, and transmission by fax machine is fast and cost effective. In addition, fax machines can transmit over ordinary telephone lines without the need for any special service. Moreover, the paper input and output of most fax machines appeals to those who prefer paper copies of documents and are not comfortable with transmitting and receiving information by way of computer.
For those more comfortable with computers, electronic mail (email) is an even more expedient and cost effective way of transmitting information. Documents which are created using a computer, or otherwise imported, can be transmitted, received and reviewed without generation of a paper copy if compatible viewing software is available. The increasing use of wide area networks (WANS) such as the Internet, makes email even more useful by allowing simultaneous transmission of data to a much wider group of recipients. However, unlike facsimile machines that can send faxes directly over the telephone lines, an email user must generally pay for an Internet service provider to provide an email mail box and email capability, or invest in expensive computer equipment and server software to create a comparable on-site capability.
Traditionally, facsimile devices and electronic mail devices have for the most part been thought of as separate, with facsimile type communication being performed by a specialized fax machine and email communications being performed by a general purpose desktop computer equipped with a modem and/or a connection to the Internet. However computers, when configured appropriately with a fax/data modem which receives and transmits in accordance with both facsimile and data communications protocols, can transmit and receive documents in accordance with a fax or email protocol. The faxes can be sent from the computer over the telephone lines without an Internet connection, however such a connection is still required to send emails. Recently, it has even been proposed to send emails via a facsimile machine. But, again, an Internet connection is required.
Fax machines have also been used to send encrypted data. However, to send an encrypted fax to a recipient, both the sender and recipient have needed specialized fax machines employing special encryption methods. These fax machines have been prohibitively expensive and very slow in transferring data. Sending encrypted email via a computer has also been difficult in the past. Typically, both the sending computer and the receiving computer must have compatible, specialized software in order to encrypt and decipher the email.
Thus, there is a need for an improved system and process that allows a user to send faxes and emails, or both, from a fax machine or a personal computer, without the need for a LAN or an Internet connection on site. Additionally, this improved system should allow the sender to send either faxes or emails, or both, to one or several recipients. This system would allow the same message to be sent to various recipients whether or not they have fax and email capabilities, as long as they have one or the other. Furthermore, this improved system should allow the sender to send messages in a secure, encrypted format to a recipient without the need for an expensive secure fax machine or pre-existing specialized software at the receiving end. Such an improved system would provide major advancements in functionality and practicality over the present technology.